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May 28, 2025

Welcome to The Lighthouse, the weekly email newsletter of the Independent Institute covering politics, economics, current events, and everything in between.

Dear Readers,

Last week Independent Institute hosted a two-day Scholars’ Summit, bringing together a group of affiliated research fellows and allied researchers from throughout the country. Attendees worked together to shape some forthcoming projects by Independent Institute while also strategizing on how to take advantage of research opportunities on subjects such as the nexus of fiscal and monetary policies, private solutions to public policy problems, America’s 250th Anniversary, topics in surveillance, the American West and defending free markets in an increasingly anti-market world.

This week’s articles especially focused on the last of those themes, defending markets. We revisit persistent myths surrounding tariffs with two installments of Scott A. Burns and Caleb Fuller’s Debunking the New Mercantilists series and an article by Thomas J. Grennes. Scott Beyer writes about the optimism we should feel about AI. Ethan Yang covers the EU’s evolving stance towards antitrust and Craig Eyermann writes about the U.S. credit rating downgrade.

Happy reading!

Jonathan Hofer
Managing Editor

Top picks this week
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** The Fairy Tale of Returning to a Tariff-funded Government ([link removed])
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** by Scott A. Burns, Caleb S. Fuller
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Our Founding Fathers didn’t share a deep affinity for tariffs, nor did they think tariffs were some secret sauce for economic prosperity.
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** The Legend vs. the Reality of Tariffs in Early American History ([link removed])
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** by Scott A. Burns, Caleb S. Fuller
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If tariffs hurt the economy, why did the U.S. experience strong growth for its first 150 years when the Treasury was primarily funded by tariffs?
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** Is Trump an Ardent Protectionist or a Deal-Making Free Trader? ([link removed])
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** by Thomas J. Grennes
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The unpredictability of Trump’s tariff policy has generated unprecedented uncertainty for the U.S. and global economies.
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** AI Can Untap Trillions in Economic Potential—If It’s Allowed To ([link removed])
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** by Scott Beyer
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We should seriously consider the impacts of disrupted livelihoods, while also recognizing the potential losses from hindering AI progress.
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** Will the EU Step Back on Antitrust Enforcement? ([link removed])
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** by Ethan Yang
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It remains to be seen how far the European Commission (EC) can go without having to rewrite its antitrust laws while also balancing dissenting voices.
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** Uncle Sam's Cost to Borrow Goes Up After Credit Rating Downgrade ([link removed])
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** by Craig Eyermann
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Moody’s Investors Service acted to strip the U.S. government of its last “top-notch triple-A” credit rating.
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** FEATURED BOOK (Now in Paperback)
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** The New Deal’s War on the Bill of Rights ([link removed])
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** The Untold Story of FDR’s Concentration Camps, Censorship, and Mass Surveillance
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** by David T. Beito
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“This book is not mere history; it is an exposé. You won’t know which is more shocking: the lengths to which FDR and New Dealers like Senators (and future Supreme Court justices) Hugo Black and Sherman Minton went to suppress freedom of speech, privacy, and civil rights; or the degree to which these efforts have been concealed by pro-FDR and New Deal propagandists.”
—Randy E. Barnett, Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law, Georgetown University Law Center
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